As of March 2012, our capacity for next year is undetermined due to expansion. We are awaiting the results of the renovation, and city inspection. The Fire Department will then have the final say. A conservative guess would be that we will begin next year with 20 students, although it's possible that maximum enrolment could be set as high as 25.

We will naturally have to balance enrolment between our two classrooms, so there will be an upper limit of primary level students. The same will apply to students from Grade 4 up.

For now we are going to "cap" at 20 so that we don't promise a spot we ultimately can't fulfill. This would mean total enrolment of 10 at each level, although we will adjust the size limit of a group if supported by an uneven number of applicants. For example, since our primary division is new, we may have only a half-dozen applicants, leaving us room for 14 at the junior level.

Once we get our maximum number in a section, we will advertise this and after that make changes to enrolment only if possible due to a capacity change. Again, we are setting a highly conservative capacity in the early days, so as not to accept more students than the City finally allows us.

Bearing all of the above in mind, if you have a conviction that Madrona will be a good fit for your child, it would be practical for you to submit an application promptly.

Over the past few weeks, we have had, for a school our size, a deluge of interest, and many interviews of prospective families have taken place. Spaces are filling, especially at the Grade 4 to 7 level, where we are already very close to reaching the nominal limit above.

Filling in an Application

As well as the application form itself, please prepare the following supporting documentation:

• recent report cards (not applicable at Grade 1 level)
• work samples (may be waived for Grade 1 entrants)
• birth certificate or proof of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status
• any applicable reports from professionals who have assessed your child, such as psycho-educational assessments, psychologist's report, occupational therapist's report etc

Deposits for Wait List

Parents who apply at a period when we are fully enrolled or at our cap estimate, will be interviewed following the normal procedures. If the parents, the child, and the school agree that the "fit" seems excellent, parents may choose to place their child on the waiting list. There is an application fee of $300.

If a space opens for your child for the desired school year, $200 of the application fee is applied to the tuition deposit. Equally, if no space opens, the family can choose to have $200 of the application fee refunded or to leave their child on the waiting list for subsequent entry.

If a space opens and you have changed your mind about Madrona, none of the original deposit will be refunded.